Understand Before You Act: The Key to Culture Change

30 September, 2019

When starting a change process, it is important to base it on a simple maxim: Start the organizational transformation process once you have a clear understanding of the terrain. Our experience has shown us that not doing a good job of understanding the terrain leads to committing all sorts of mistakes throughout the transformation process and incurring some dire consequences. That is why as part of our consulting work, we now do not start an intervention without having prior and sufficient understanding of the terrain.

What does “understanding” mean?

Understanding refers to always building on the positive aspects of an organization’s culture that would help in achieving the project’s goals. In reality there are no good or bad cultures as long a they are based on ethical principles. Simply said, there are cultures and these should be understood and respected.

In those cases where you might need to change a certain aspect of a company’s culture due to the organization’s strategic needs, you would first need to do a very detailed analysis of the impact of changing the culture before initiating the transformation project. Once you have defined and analyzed the aspects that you want to change with all the impact this will generate, you should put together a detailed plan, with its implications and risks, which helps to consolidate the new aspects within the organization’s culture.

Nowadays in the market there are plenty of “standard” instruments offered for measuring and evaluating a company’s culture. One of the selling points offered by those that sell these instruments is that they allow you to compare cultures. We, however, think that every successful organization has its own culture that has grown over time and that comparing it with other cultures is not so relevant nor of major significance. What is fundamental, in this dimension, is to improve those cultural aspects that the organization as such considers important within the strategy that it has defined in implementing an organizational transformation project. That is why we feel that each process that evaluates and measures a company’s culture is unique and hast to be aligned with its strategy.

For example, what is the relevance of comparing Google’s or Amazon’s culture to Microsoft’s? … of comparing Colgate’s, Procter & Gamble’s and Unilever’s cultures? Or the cultures of Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda, General Motors and other car manufacturers? Consider, furthermore, that there are successful organizations with cultures that some believe not to be healthy at least from their point of view. This situation takes us back to the following affirmation: there are not good nor bad cultures, there simply cultures in line with some solid ethical principles.

Some fundamental aspects of a good “understanding” before beginning a transformation process are:

Have a clear understanding of the aspects and issues of the culture that we need to bear in mind throughout the transformation process.
Align the actions and interventions related to culture to the organizational reality as well as to its principles and values.
Be proactive in carrying out the activities needed from the cultural perspective to ensure a successful transformation.
Develop and implement solid cultural bases for possible future transformation processes

For further information please write us at acarvajal@humangroup.com.co